Issues

House Opponents of Iran Deal Offer Outlandish Alternatives July 29, 2015Maria HardmanBehbod NegahbanWashington, DC – Representative Mo Brooks (R-AL) wanted to know if the U.S. would consider using nukes against Iran. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) suggested U.S. negotiators should have consulted on the talks with the Marxist-Islamist organization MEK, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization until 2012.
But at a House Foreign Affairs Hearing on ...

Joint Statement of Iranian-American Organizations on the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Deal July 29, 2015NIAC StaffBay Area Iranian-American Democrats * International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran * Iranian Alliances Across Borders * Iranian American Bar Association *Iranian-American Democrats of San Diego * National Iranian American Council * Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County* Pars Equality Center * Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans
As ...

Will Iranian Americans Get Sanctions Relief? July 27, 2015Tyler CullisDespite the nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran, the U.S. trade embargo with Iran will not be among the sanctions to be lifted. This means that Iranian Americans will continue to be prohibited from engaging in most trade-related transactions with Iran or Iranian parties.

Will Congress Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory? July 22, 2015Reza MarashiIt’s not often that you get to witness history being made. Even more rare: Watching the process of history unfold. Over the past two years, I’ve had the good fortune of experiencing both. After attending nearly every round of nuclear negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran since 2013, I watched ...

House Republicans Fire Opening Salvo to Block Iran Deal July 17, 2015Ala Hashami-HaeriWashington, DC – In what is surely the first of what will be several competing attempts to try and block the nuclear deal negotiated with Iran, 166 House Republicans have introduced a resolution to block the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), even before President Obama has formally submitted the ...

Policy Memo: Summary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action July 17, 2015NIAC StaffOn July 14, 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was secured by the P5+1 (United States, Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia) and Iran. The negotiated agreement will lift nuclear-related sanctions on Iran in exchange for constraints and inspections over Iran’s nuclear program to provide verifiable assurance that ...

Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats Show Some Fight in Defense of Nuclear Deal July 16, 2015Behbod NegahbanWashington, DC – At a hearing at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs this Tuesday, Congressional Democrats began to do what they had largely neglected to for months: they defended the Iran nuclear agreement, stood by its merits, and took its hardline opponents to task.
The hearing, which came just hours ...

NIAC Applauds Historic Iran Deal July 14, 2015NIAC StatementWashington, D.C. – National Iranian American Council (“NIAC”) President Trita Parsi issued the following statement regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) agreed to by the United States, its P5+1 partners, and Iran today:
Two years ago, diplomacy was at a standstill and war looked inevitable. Negotiations had broken down, ...

The Myth of the Iranian Military Giant July 13, 2015Trita ParsiTyler CullisYou’d be forgiven for thinking that Iran, unshackled from economic sanctions, would have free rein to domineer its vulnerable Persian Gulf Arab neighbors and cause trouble for Israel. As the fearful refrain goes, if an Iran restrained by crippling sanctions has managed to assert its influence over four Arab capitals ...

Dignity: The Hidden Factor in the Iran Nuclear Talks July 2, 2015Trita ParsiThere are few concepts as important yet as misunderstood and unaccounted for in explaining international affairs as dignity. Explaining what is happening in Vienna right now in the nuclear talks between Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany is virtually impossible unless this critical variable ...

NIAC Policy Memo: Dispelling Myths of Sanctions Relief Under Iran Nuclear Deal June 30, 2015Tyler CullisUnder the April 2nd Joint Statement issued by the United States, its P5+1 partners, and Iran in Lausanne, Switzerland, the parties agreed that the principle of ‘simultaneity’ would govern each party’s implementation of a final nuclear deal. In effect, at the same time that Iran takes certain steps to constrain ...

New Poll finds Strong Iranian Support for a Nuclear Deal June 30, 2015Erin PollWashington, D.C.—A recent study shows that almost six out of ten Iranians said they support Iran pursuing a deal based on the Lausanne framework agreement. The study, which was written by Ebrahim Mohseni, Nancy Gallagher, and Clay Ramsay, and published by the University of Maryland, the University of Tehran, and ...

Iran’s nuclear talks: Five reasons why a deal would be good for the U.S. June 30, 2015Trita ParsiThe criticism of the pending nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is intensifying. Opponents of the deal will spend millions of dollars on ads pushing the U.S. public and Congress to kill the deal in the next few days. But while a fortune already has been spent on nit-picking ...

Five Myths About the Iran Deal June 28, 2015Reza MarashiAs the final round of nuclear negotiations begins here in Vienna, opponents of a deal have become schizophrenic in their efforts to torpedo it. Unable to base their objections on science or the technical facts currently being drafted, they have instead resorted to a loose mélange of poorly constructed straw ...